A Love Story of a Certain Bakeneko
by Rolling-Chan
Summary: Based off of A Love Story of a Certain Bakeneko. In order to bring back her smile, a certain Bakeneko will commit such sins. This is the tale of the Bakeneko who fell in love with a human.
1. The Girl and the Cat

Author's Note: As you already know from the summary, the is based off the Kagamine Len song A Love Story of a Certain Bakeneko. I just had to give that song a story, and I hope some of you will like it. As the girl was no one in particular, I gave Miku-Sama that role. If you haven't heard the song before then I highly suggest you do. My wish is to flesh out that song into a beautiful fanfic, but I guess I will just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best.

-Ray

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"Len~!" Len's littermate, Rin, called. "You're so slow!"

"You're too fast!" Len called back. The poor dear was running as fast as his little kitten legs could carry him, but even then he couldn't compete with Rin's speed. "Just you wait, Rin, one day I'll out run you!"

"I'd like to see your try!" Rin said before taking off again.

"One of these days," Len said under his breath. The little black kitten did everything he could to catch up to his older sister, but she was just too quick. When he finally caught up to Rin, she was sitting near the end of the river, watching the gushing waters pass by.

"I guess it's time to go back," Rin sadly said.

"Nuh-huh," Len said. "Look at those stepping stones, we can jump across."

"You know what Mama said about going across the river!" Rin said with surprise.

"So?" Len said. "I know, you're just chicken!"

"Take that back!" Rin hissed.

"Nope~," Len sang. He positioned himself and then pounced to get from the ground onto one of the stones. When he landed on a stone he said "Come on, Rin! This is easy!"

"I don't think so," Rin said as she began backing up.

"Coward!" Len called. He then jumped onto another stone.

"Len!" Rin yelled. "I'm serious! Get your tail back over here!"

"Come over here and make me!" Len challenged. He made a jump for the next stone, but he slipped off and fell into the river.

"Len!" Rin shouted when she saw her brother fall in.

"Rin!" Len gasped when his head was above the water. Up and down he kept bobbing, like the bobber on a fishing pole. Each time he came up, Len saw his sister running as she kept her big turquoise eyes on him. Len tried to swim out, but it was no use, the current was too much for the kitten.

"Len!" Rin called after her brother as the rushing waters carried the kitten further and further away. She may have been a fast runner, but she couldn't compete with the river's speed. Soon enough she lost sight of her brother, and shortly after she gave up her pursuit. Len was long out of her sight, and she was certain that she would never see her brother again.

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"Why do I have to go with you to get water?" eight-year-old Miku whined to her older brother as they made their way to the river.

"Because Mom put me in charge of you," Mikuo said.

"Do we really have to get water?" Miku pouted.

"If you don't want to thirst to death," was all Mikuo said.

"Nii-San," Miku said shortly after, "may I play over there for a little while. I know you usually take breaks before heading back so don't tell me we don't have time."

Mikuo rolled his eyes. "Fine, as long as you don't get too close to the deep part of the water and come when I call you."

"Okay!" Miku excitingly said as she fled from her older brother's watchful eyes. Miku hummed happily as she followed a butterfly, but made sure to not let it lead her where she was not supposed to go. "Come on!" Miku called to the butterfly. "I won't hurt you. I just wanna play!" Miku stopped in her tracks when she noticed something in the corner of her eye.

Miku looked to her left and saw a pile of black resting near the shallow end of the river. Getting closer, Miku saw what it was. "A kitten!" she gasped.

Miku quickly approached the kitten and kneeled next to it. "Is he dead?" Miku mentally worried. She scooped the wet ball of fur in her hands and looked closely at him. "He's just a baby!" Miku realized when she saw how small he was in her hands. To her relief, the kitten mewed softly before he opened his eyes and looked at Miku. "Don't worry, Kitty-Kun, I'll take care of you." The kitten closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. "I need to hurry!" Miku thought.

"Miku!" she heard her brother calling for her.

"Coming!" she immediately answered. Looking at the kitten, Miku decided she was going to take him home no matter what. Miku set him inside the basket she was carrying and covered him with her shawl. "Stay alive," she told the kitten, "I'll take proper care of you soon enough."

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Len felt sore and stiff all over. He tried to move but yelped when he found it was painful to simply stretch his legs. "What happened?" he wondered. Then he remembered Rin and his little swim in the river. "I'm an idiot!" he cursed himself. "Rin must think I'm dead. I mean, am I dead?" It was then that Len remembered the little girl who he had seen before passing out. "Who was she? An angel?" Len's eyes popped open when he felt his back being stroked.

"Oh good," a girl with turquoise hair tied into pigtails said, "you're awake."

"She's the angel!" Len immediately recognized her.

"Here," the girl said as she brought a spoon towards his mouth. Tasting it, Len was delighted to find that she was giving him milk. "Sorry if it's a little warm," the girl said, "but you were sleeping since mid-day, and it's nighttime now."

Len happily drank all the milk, and was pleased when she gave him another spoonful. After she gave him the sixth spoon she said, "You're going to get really fat if you keep eating like that." Len didn't care what she had said, he was just happy to be fed. "My name is Miku, by the way." Miku smiled at Len. "What's your name?"

"Len," he answered after he finished the milk, but then remembered that Miku couldn't understand him.

Miku giggled as she pat his head. "You're so cute!" She then put her finger to her lip. "But you're a secret from Mama, Papa, and Nii-San, okay?" Len nodded his head in agreement. Miku smiled as she lied done next to him. "By the way, you're on my bed, so I hope you don't mind sharing."

Len, despite how stiff and sore he was, stood up and walked closer to Miku. He curled up around the crook of her neck and snuggled close to her. Miku giggled again before saying, "Goodnight, Kitty-Kun."

"Goodnight, Miku-Chan," Len said, even though he knew that she couldn't understand him. "You saved my life, so I am forever in your debt."

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The next two weeks quickly passed. Len was growing really fast, and he looked so lanky that it amazed Miku that despite how much he ate it was as if he never gained an ounce. Miku would talk to Len and tell him stories, and he would eagerly listen. Len wanted nothing more than to talk to Miku, to tell her that she was his first real friend. Miku let him outside during the day, but he was always back by night and slept with Miku on her bed. "I wish things would never change," Len sighed as he fell asleep that night. Things, however, did change.

"I will get you," Len vowed as he stared at the rat resting happily on one of Miku's shelves. The rat stuck its tongue at Len. "You will reget that," Len said as he tried to figure out how he was going to keep up on the shelf. It was too high for him to jump, and there weren't any climbing means available. There were, however, curtains next to the shelf. "I know I shouldn't climb on Miku-Chan's curtains," Len thought, "but I think she would rather have scratched up curtains over a rat in her room."

Deciding against thinking it over, Len pounced on the curtains and used his claws to hold fast. "Say your prayers," Len told the rat as he continued climbing upwards, "because soon you'll be a lovely gift for Miku-Chan." When Len was high enough on the curtains he took the risky jump onto the shelf. "You're mine!" Len exclaimed when he landed not too far from the rat.

The rat squealed in fear as it turned away from Len. Seeing no other escape option, the rat jumped off of the shelf and landed on the floor. It was before when Len, too, jumped off the shelf that Miku opened her bedroom door as she began to call Len.

"Kitty-Kun, I- AAAHHHHH!" she screamed when the rat scurried between her legs.

"Don't worry, Miku-Chan!" Len said as he jumped off the shelf and gracefully landed on his feet, "I'll get him for you."

Len chased after the rat, also running between Miku's legs in the process. It was the first time Len had ever left Miku's room and entered other parts of the house, but he was so into the chase that he didn't realize that he was now revealing to Miku's entire family that Miku had a cat hidden in her room.

"WAHHH!" Miku's mom screamed when she saw Len chasing the rat. "A rat! And a cat, too! Kill him, Momoru! Kill him!"

"Who?" Miku's dad asked. "The cat or the rat?"

"Both of them!" she shrieked.

"Don't hurt Kitty-Kun!" Miku said as she rushed into the kitchen, the room with all the activity.

"You brought a cat here?!" Mikuo shouted as he tried to help his dad capture the unwelcomed guests.

"He was dying!" Miku defended herself as she tried to get Len before either her dad or brother did.

The rat ran into a hole in the wall, and Len crashed into the wall as he was too big to squeeze through. "Darn it!" he cursed as she tried to fit himself inside. Gentle hands picked the kitten off the ground, and when Len saw who was holding him he said, "Sorry, Miku-Chan, I failed you."

Miku held the kitten close to her chest as she looked at her family with pleading eyes and said, "Don't hurt him. He's my friend. Don't hurt Kitty-Kun."

"Miku," Miku's dad said, "you know we don't allow pets in this house. The cat has to go."

"No!" Miku wailed as she held the cat closer to her chest. "Let him stay. He can hunt mice and rats and other rodents. He can be useful around here. Let Kitty-Kun stay, please." Tears began to fill the young girl's eyes. "Please let him stay."

"Miku-Chan . . . ," Len looked up at the upset girl. "I'm sorry," he said as he buried his face into her arms. "This is all my fault."

"Give me the cat," Miku's dad said as he held out his hands.

"What are you going to do to him?" Miku asked through her tear filled eyes.

"What you're supposed to do with unneeded cats," he answered. "Put them in a bag with a rock and throw the bag into the river."

"You can't drown Kitty-Kun!" Miku cried as she hugged Len tighter.

"Well if you won't," he replied, "either your brother or I will. Make your choice, Miku."

Miku looked sorrowfully at Len. Her mother would never allow anything with fur in the house, and Mikuo obviously wasn't going to come to Miku's defense or else he would have spoken by now. "Okay," she sniffed. "I'll do it. I'll take him to the river."

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Miku stomped each step of the way, careful to not swing the bag in her hand. She didn't have the heart to drown Len, but she had to be rid of him somehow. Miku didn't want to leave Len for dead, but she was given no choice. She knew what she had to do right now.

When she had come to a deep, gushing part of the river, Miku tightened her grip on the bag. "I can't do it," she whispered. "I came all the way out here knowing that I couldn't do it."

Instead of tossing the bag into the river as she should have done, Miku sat on her knees as she struggled to undo the knot her father had tied. When she was successful, Miku reached her hand into the bag, first feeling something cool, and then finding the ball of warmth she was searching for. Miku carefully pulled the kitten out of the bag, and was relieved to find that he didn't suffocate while inside the tightly woven sack.

"I'm sorry," she said to him as she stroked his head. "I have to leave you now. I don't want to, but I have to. I'm sorry, Kitty-Kun."

"Miku-Chan," Len said as he looked at her tear streaked face. "This is all my fault," he told her, despite knowing that she couldn't understand him. "I should be the one who's sorry. This is all my fault, and now you're paying for my mistake. I'm so sorry, Miku-Chan. I'm so, so very sorry."

Miku gazed at the kitten, who looked as full of sorrow that she felt. Miku placed a kiss on top of his head before setting him down onto the soft, green grass. "Goodbye, Kitty-Kun. I'll never forget you." With that she began to walk away, having to try incredibly hard in order to not look back.

"Goodbye, Miku-Chan," Len said as he watched her retreating figure. "Don't cry," he continued on, unheard, "we will meet again one day. I promise, Miku-Chan, that one day we will meet again and I shall repay you for your kindness. I promise with all my heart." When Miku was far out of sight, Len took a deep breath and said, "I promise to bring back your smile."


	2. The Trick

"Look who's the slow one now!" Len shouted over his shoulder as he continued sprinting on the rooftops.

"No fair!" Rin called after him. "I just ate, so I'm cramping up and-"

"Excuses, excuses," Len cut her off. He saw the approaching gap between two of the roofs and quickened his already fast pace. It was a daring move, but Len had leaped across roof gaps hundreds of times before. With one graceful jump, Len sailed across the gap and stuck the landing. "Woo!" he shouted. "Len one; Rin zero."

Rin stopped just before the jump and said as she panted, "I'm going to kill you, Len."

"You'll have to catch me first," Len replied as he stuck his tongue out at his sister. It was then he noticed something from the corner of his eye. Walking down the streets of the marketplace was a young maiden wearing a pink kimono. Her skin was pale, her stride was graceful, and her turquoise hair was neatly tied into a bun on the back of her head. "Miku-Chan," Len sighed as he lied down and watched as she stopped to talk to a merchant about some of the vegetables she was interested in purchasing.

"What are you looking at?" Rin asked after she had gathered enough strength to jump to the other roof and saw Len staring dreamily into the distance. "Her again?" Rin asked when she saw who Len had his eyes fixed upon. "What is so special about that human girl?"

"You don't understand, Rin," Len looked at his sister, "Miku-Chan saved my life. If it weren't for her I would be dead right now."

"If you had listened to me in the first place then your life wouldn't have been endangered to begin with," Rin huffed. "I thought you were dead, Len. I truly thought you were dead."

"Well I'm not," Len said. "She took me back to the river, and I was able to find you, Mama, and the rest of our sisters again."

"After two weeks of believing you were dead!" Rin hissed. She refused to show Len how worried the whole event had made her, but when she saw he was still alive her first thought was to kill him for making her worry so much.

"That was ten years ago, Rin," Len said. "It's not a past we need to worry about."

"It is if you keep staring at that girl!" Rin snapped. "Just leave her be."

"She saved my life," Len reminded Rin, "and I can't rest until that debt is repayed."

"And pray," Rin began, "how shall you repay that debt of yours?"

"I'll think of something," Len said, now feeling cross due to Rin's carelessness of his will to keep the promise he made to Miku.

It is said that when a cat's tail grows too long that same cat becomes a Bakeneko, a monster cat that holds wondrous abilities that no other creature can posses. That saying is true. Both Rin and Len were the only members of their litter to have their tails grow to that incredible length, and both became Bakenekos at a young age. If they hadn't been blessed with their early achievement, both would be physically old in their ten years of life, but since they weren't yet a year old when they turned, their aging had changed more closely to that of humans. Both had long lives ahead of them, but they weren't garunteed immortality either.

"Hey, look," Rin said as she looked at the world below her, "your human's beau has made the scene."

Len looked in Rin's field of vision and saw a blond man with gray eyes approaching Miku. Miku happily greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

The man was Kagamine Rinto, and he was engaged to be married to Miku. It may have been an arranged marriage, but anyone could to tell that the love they had for each other was real. Miku would make a beautiful bride, Len knew, and he was happy to see her smiling. If she would always smile so happily then Len would have all the reason in the world to be happy himself.

"Why do you need to fulfill your promise?" Rin asked. "By the looks of things, she doesn't need you around to make her happy."

"I know," Len said, "but even if she never needs me I'll still be around just in case. You never know when things take a turn for the worst."

"Careful, Len," Rin warned her brother, "least you might predict a tragic event."

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"How's my beautiful gril doing today?" Rinto asked his wife-to-be.

"Wonderful, now that you're here," Miku answered. She stuck a strawberry into Rinto's mouth and said, "We had ought to have strawberries at our wedding. They are so good, no?"

Rinto nodded. "They taste really good, I'll give them that."

Miku giggled. "They're beautiful, too."

"But not as beautiful as you," Rinto said before placing a kiss on Miku's lips.

"Stop!" Miku laughed when he released her. "We're in a public market; now is not the time for affectional gestures."

"But Miku has to restrain herself too, doesn't she?" Rinto teased.

"Yes," Miku playfully sighed, "because even the Great Miku-Sama is a fool for love."

"And that's what I love most about you," Rinto smiled before kissing Miku on her cheek.

"Save it for the wedding," Lenka, Rinto's twin sister, said as she approached the two.

"Aww, Lenka-Chan," Rinto ruffled his sister's hair, "you're just too cute."

Lenka playfully swatted his hand away. "Leave me alone, Dork." Looking at Miku, Lenka said "So how's the 'Great Miku-Sama' doing today?"

Miku laughed. "You heard that?"

"You'd be amazed what my ears can catch," Lenka replied with a wink.

"Well I'm doing fine today, thank you," Miku said. "How are you, Lenka-Chan?"

"Nervous," Lenka said. Seeing Miku's confused face, Lenka said, "Hasn't Rinto told you yet?"

"Told me what?" Miku asked.

"Lenka," Rinto said her name with venom.

"Sorry," Lenka apologized, "but I thought you would have told her by now."

"Told me what?" Miku repeated.

Rinto sighed. "I'm going to travel with some merchants to a nearby island. I want to see if there's a suitable place for us to live and raise a family, and the ship sets sail tomorrow."

Miku gaped at him. "Why am I just now hearing about this?!" she demanded.

"Because I just made up my mind last night!" Rinto defended himself. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "I'm not saying we're going to move there after the wedding, but I want to at least see if there are any great options for us. We don't have to go anywhere if you don't want to."

"It's not that," Miku shook her head. "I'm only worried about you sailing. Do you know the risks sailing has?"

Rinto laughed. "Trust me, I am fully aware. Don't worry, though. Odds are nothing will happen. I will go there and come back safely. The trip will take only three days. Five tops."

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It had been over two weeks since Rinto's departure, but he had yet to return. Rumor had it that the storm that hit the night the ship left lead the boat to sink, but there were no confirmed facts. As far as anyone knew, Rinto was dead, and the ocean was his grave.

Miku began to grow depressed with worry over the loss of her love, and as the weeks continued to pass she began to lose weight. She was already a light girl to begin with, but now it was becoming child's play to count her ribs. She needed to smile again. Something had to bring back Miku's smile.

Len sighed as he sat on her window and looked in to see a trembling Miku, her sobs reaching his sensitive ears. It was night, and she was supposed to be asleep, but instead she was soaking her matress with her tears. He had to do something, anything, to make her happy again. He promised her that he would bring back her smile, and now was the time to do so.

Len snuck into tailor shop and, with his cat mouth, dragged away a dark green kimono. As humorous as it was for a cat, let alone a Bakeneko, to steal a kimono, Len knew that his thievery was only the easy part. Her dragged it to the woods, the shadows cast by the trees acting as a cloak to hide him. Len had heard of, and even met, Bakenekos that could take on the appearance of humans, but never once had Len tried to change his form. He had to try, though. For Miku.

With much focus and will power, Len tried to change his form to that of Kagamine Rinto. How he managed to do it, Len didn't know, but after a long time of trying he finally managed to change forms. Len looked at his paws - hands and began to curl his fingers. He never knew the feeling of moving fingers, and now he found the sensation breathtaking. Len then looked down to inspect himself. He was all human, all right. No tail, no fur, and no clothes, which he had nearly forgotten about putting on.

Len slipped on the kimono with little difficulty and used his fingers to brush out his black fur - blond hair. Being human was something Len had never imagined feeling so amazing. He had only been human for minutes, but Len already wanted to be human forever. Now for one last thing: To approach Miku.

Len was not sure how he was to achieve such a feat. Certainly he couldn't knock on her door and things would be perfect. No, he had to do this right. Before a plan could be formed in Len's head, Miku emerged from her home and began walking down the street. Expecting a moment to reveal himself to Miku to appear, Len followed after her.

Miku unknowing lead Len to the beach, and when she got there Miku fell on her knees and began crying harder than when she was at her home. Miku was looking out to Rinto's watery grave, and she knew it. It was now or never, Len was aware, and he knew just how to go to her.

Due to bad experiences, Len did not like water, but for Miku's sake he was willing to do anything. Len carefully slipped into the ocean as to not make a sound and swam around until Miku was dead ahead. Cutting his quiet act, Len splashed as he swimmed towards Miku. It wasn't until he close that she noticed him, and by then Len knew exactly what he was going to say. Except he almost blew it.

"Are you okay?" Miku asked as she helped Len out of the water. When she got a closer look at him she said "Rinto . . . ?"

"Miku-Chan," Len said, speaking as a human for the first time.

"Rinto!" Miku exclaimed as she threw her arms around Len and began trebling with sobs. Len's plan was still usable, but right now this girl needed comfort. Hugging Miku tightly, Len said, "I promise I won't leave you alone anymore," he whispered in her ear.

_Ah, God_ Len silently prayed, _I am so cruel._

* * *

Author's Note: So here's the next chapter! It's really short, I know, but I promise the next chapter shall be both longer and far more interesting.

-Ray


	3. The Deceiver

Kaito and Gakupo, two of the village's most well known samurai's, conversed as they headed out for drinks one night.

"Did you hear about Kagamine Rinto?" Gakupo asked Kaito as he carried his sword over his shoulder.

"No," Kaito answered. "What about him?" Unlike Gakupo, Kaito wasn't as much of a show off when it came to his weapon. Kaito preferred to keep his sword sheathed on his hip.

Gakupo tilted his head at angle, perhaps to view Kaito better, and said, "Well you know how it has been said that the storm took the lives of the merchants that sailed that night only two months ago?"

"Everyone knows about that," Kaito said.

"And how only last week there was a storm?" Gakupo asked.

"Gakupo-Kun," Kaito said, sounding tired, "I know about the storm last week. What are you leading me to?"

"Well on the ship that was rumored to have sunk was a man named Kagamine Rinto," Gakupo went on. "Apparently, the ship made it, but it was during the storm last week that the ship Kagamine-San was on sunk."

"What bad luck for him," Kaito said, tilting his head as well in order to see his best friend better. Perhaps they should get to the bar first before talking; both were in the habit of looking at the speaker and this wasn't helpful when both were walking forward.

"Well all's not so bad," Gakupo replied. "He was the only survivor of the wreck, and he washed up on the shores of the beach, right where his finacée was."

"Whoa," Kaito said in amazement. "Could have perished twice but manages to escape death both times. What a fortunate man."

"There is one problem, though," Gakupo frowned. "He can't remember anything. His friends, family, nothing. His fiancée did say that he called her by her name, but other than that he showed no signs of knowing her."

"Amnesia, hm?" Kaito mumbled. "Just proof that no one's invincible, I suppose."

"Seems so," Gakupo shrugged.

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"Rinto, I'm home," Miku called when she arrived home from her trip to the market.

"Let me get those for you," Len, pretending to be Rinto, said.

"No, I can handle it," Miku said. "Thank you, though."

Len sighed. "Miku-Chan, I'm not helpless. It won't be a problem if I go with you to the marketplace or help you carry your bags."

"But you still need to rest," Miku said when she placed her bags down. "You survived a sinking ship, and it hasn't even been ten days since! You need to rest until the shock doesn't affect you anymore."

"I'm fine, Miku-Chan," Len pleaded. "Honest."

"Yet you still don't remember me?" Miku frowned. Len shamefully looked away. "I'm sorry, Rinto, but you must understand that I believed you were dead. I can't help but all of this worrying."

"I'm sorry," Len said.

Miku ser down her groceries, walked up to Len, and tightly wrapped her arms around him. "Don't apologize for something you had no control over. I only don't want to risk losing you again is all."

Len wrapped his arms around Miku. "Then please let me help around the house. Not to exaggerate, but I could die of boredom if not given something, anything to do."

Miku laughed against Len's chest. "You can't stay serious for a moment, can you?"

Running his fingers through Miku's hair, Len said, "I am only trying to prove to you that I'm okay. No more sailing for me. From now on I'll always be here with you. Forever."

Miku snuggled deeper into Len's chest. "Promise?" she asked.

Len kissed the top of her head. With his lips still against her hair he whispered, "I promise."

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"What's on your mind, Lenka-Chan?" Miku asked the girl. After "Rinto" had returned merely two weeks ago, Lenka had visited Miku every other day to help get him readjusted. Lenka would tell "her brother" all of their childhood stories in hopes of him recalling them, but not a thing she told him got "Rinto" to say "I remember that!"

Lenka pursed her lips tightly. "I don't think that's Rinto," she answered.

Cocking her head to the side, Miku asked, "What ever do you mean?"

"That's not Rinto," Lenka answered. "He acts so different from before. Too different, actually."

"He has amnesia, Lenka-Chan," Miku reminded the blonde.

"In case you have forgotten, Miku-Chan," Lenka said, "amnesia means 'memory loss,' not 'attitude replacement.' He's too helpful, very formal, and treats me, his little sister, with respect. You know as well as I do that Rinto is - I'm sorry - _was_ a little lazy when it came to house work, never once used an honorific when addressing you, or respected me as if I was an adult. I don't know who that is, but he sure isn't my brother."

Miku looked at Lenka with disbelief. "Can't memory loss also include forgetting how one used to act?" she questioned the girl.

"Maybe," Lenka admitted, "but I just have this feeling in the pit of my gut that the man living under your roof is not Rinto."

Shaking her head, Miku said, "Just give him time. Rinto's memory should return some day, and if not then maybe the new Rinto will eventually grow on you."

Biting her lip, Lenka went back to kneading her bread as she said, "I hope you're right."

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Time continued to go by, and "Rinto" failed to remember anything. Since Miku had to get "Rinto" to know her all over again, Len began to learn about who Miku was and how she changed from childhood. She was still very sweet and kind hearted. She still held an obvious love for animals. Overall, she was still that same girl, and that girl grew into a beautiful, amazing woman. Len was bringing her smile back, and every time she smiled his heart would fill with so much joy his heart could just burst. It was only a matter of time before Len realized something very important.

It was during the full moon that it happened. There was a loud bang that had awakened Len from his sleep. Careful to not wake Miku, who was sleeping on the other side of the room, Len slipped out of the house and went across the street to the kimono shop in order to see what had caused such a noise. He may have been in human form, but Len still held on to his cat hearing.

After Len had managed to get inside, he looked high and low for the cause of the bang. He searched behind counters and under desks, but still no sign of any intruder other than himself. All that was left was for Len to check the back. He opened the door and looked inside to find the place a mess. Kimonos lie all over, and a few mannequins were toppled over. Perhaps this was the cause of the noise. The last Len had noticed was the most surprising.

Before him, illuminated by the light from the full moon, stood a girl. She wore a soft pink kimono with a white sash, and a white bow adored her hair. In her hand was a pair of scissors, and scattered around her bare feet were masses of blonde hair.

"I didn't think it would have come to this," her voice that was so sweet it made honey seem bitter said.

"Who are you?" Len bravely asked.

The girl laughed so hard her slim shoulders were bouncing up and down. "Why Len," the girl turned around, allowing the moonlight to reveal her face, "do you not know your own sister?"

Gaping, Len gasped in total disbelief. "Rin!"

The girl, Rin, cocked her head in mock hurt. "Are you not happy to see your own sister? Your favorite sister, at that."

"No, I mean - It's just," Len couldn't find the right words to say. "How?" he asked, hoping that one word would be all it took for Rin to know what he meant.

"I'm a Bakeneko too, you know?" Rin said. "When I saw that your turned into the girl's fiancée, I took on the form of his sister. The sensation of being human is an unusual one," Rin said as she inspected her hands, "but it's not too bad. However," Rin ran a hand over her now blonde hair, "the fur length of the girl is ridiculous. I had to cut it for fear it would eventually snap this human neck if I didn't."

"But . . . why?" Len now asked.

Rin crossed her arms in what seemed to be annoyance. "I need to warn you, and I doubt you would understand me if I had remained in my true form."

"Warn me?" Len questioned. "Of what?"

"Are you fully aware of the situation you have created for everyone involved?" Rin asked.

"To the fullest," Len answered.

"That if you wish to keep the girl happy you will have to remain by her side forever?"

"That was the plan from the beginning."

"As you are under the form of the girl's fiancé, she will eventually expect you to marry her."

"If it will make Miku-Chan happy then what reason have I to not do so?"

"But she's a human, and you're a Bakeneko!"

"What I truly am has no meaning to Miku-Chan."

"Because she doesn't know who you really are."

"I'm aware of that."

"It's not right to make anyone believe they are marrying someone they don't know."

"I only want her to be happy, even if it means receiving the love she holds for another man."

Rin placed a hand on her forehead as she heavily sighed. As stupid as the plan seemed to her, to Len it was something he believed he had to do. "Would you even be okay with marrying this girl?" she asked.

"If it will make her happy," Len answered, "then yes."

"But will it make you happy?"

"Miku-Chan's happiness is my happiness."

Rin was going nowhere with him, she soon noticed. "Why are you doing all of this?" Rin asked the big question.

"Because I promised to bring back her smile," Len answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why would you make a promise like that in the first place?" Rin asked, unable to understand where her brother was coming from.

Len looked down at his feet. The look on his face was not shame, but realization over something he had known his whole life but finally acknowledged. "I love her," he said quietly yet confidently.

"I beg your pardon," Rin said as she leaned in closer, as if that would help her hearing, "but did you just say what I think you said?"

Len looked Rin dead straight in the eyes. "I'm in love with Miku-Chan. I love her to the point that seeing her so miserable was slowly killing me. I care not that she doesn't love me, because she thinks the love of her life is alive and is happy believing such. As long as she is smiling, what do I care for what she feels for me? I'm not pretending to be her lover in order to have her; I'm taking his form so that she can finally smile again. When she cries I die more and more on the inside, and when she smiles I feel more alive than I have ever been. I love her, Rin, and nothing you can say or do will change my mind."

Rin stared at Len as if she were seeing him for the first time. "Len . . ." she whispered.

Without another word, Len turned around and left Rin alone with the moonlight. He knew his sister's intentions were just because Len could see it from that angle. He was cruel. Very, very cruel. He committed the crime that could never be forgiven, the sin that continues to punish over the course of one's life. He was a Bakeneko, and he fell in love with a human.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the days that followed, Len had not come across Rin again. He believed she only took human form in order to talk to him and resumed her true for after doing so. Where ever she was, she was staying out of sight. Perhaps she counted him as a hopeless cause and left to go somewhere with less idiot Bakenekos.

"Rinto-Kun," Miku said one night, "are you okay? You look troubled."

"I'm fine, Miku-Chan," Len said, despite his posture and tone noting otherwise.

Miku sat across from Len and said, "Please tell me what's wrong. You know you can talk to me, right?"

Knowing there was no way he could talk her out of not pressing him, Len told her his problem while being as vague as possible. "It has recently come to my attention that you may want to go through with our planned marriage."

Confusion written all over her face, Miku said carefully, "I love you, Rinto-Kun. You know that. Of course I would want to be married." Looking down at her lap she continued, "But if you rather we weren't . . ."

"It's not that," Len assured her. "It's only I'm not who I used to be. I know that. I was only wondering if you would still love me, even if I am different."

Miku smiled softly as she kept staring at her lap. "Call it weird, but I love you more now than I loved you then. Actually, I love you in a totally different way. You are a different person, so I love you as if you were someone who came to comfort me and not as who you once were. It's as if . . . It's as if I stopped loving Rinto when the boy who looked exactly like him emerged from the ocean that day." Blushing as she giggled, Miku looked at Len as she said, "Is it weird that I love you as if you were someone else and not my long time fiancé?"

"No," Len shook his head, "not at all." It pleased Len to hear that she held love for him in her heart, even if she knew not who he really was. "It only makes sense," he went on to say. "I'm different, so what you feel should be different as well."

Warmly smiling, Miku looked at him in a way she needed no words to say. He understood, for he reached out and took hold of her hand. It was when Miku was looking deeply into his eyes that she noticed something. Rinto had gray eyes, yet in this lighting the boy's eyes were cerulean. The color was gray again before she could take a double check, but the glimpse was enough to make Miku wonder. Had Lenka been right after all? Is this boy really not Rinto?

* * *

Author's Note: I'm not going to lie: The scene of Len-Kun finding a human Rin was the scene I had planned the most inside my head and my favorite to write. Of course their conversation didn't come out half as well as I had hoped. ORZ Oh well, I have wanted to write human Rin before I even started this fanfic so I'm glad to have finally done so. Too bad nothing here is about her!

-Ray


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